The Vita Guy
By Valerie Lunden, MA

Picture this, a tall, dark, handsome man, selling vitamins on the local TV shopping channel.

Drooling at him might be diagnosed as a deficiency (vitamin). This same deficiency could also explain that weak at the knees feeling one experiences when gazing into his clear blue eyes, simpering at the sight of his rugged physique, or ahing when he pronounces words with lawyer-like ease and above average IQ. Well, he is a lawyer by profession – could we expect anything less? The most significant observation about Vita Guy is that he has been selling vitamins for more than ten years and he looks no different then he did ten years ago, (truly)!

Keeping this in mind, could vitamins be the new poster child for longevity, wellness and better health? When our modern diets are so wanting in nutritional value, might supplements offer us an extended lease on life?

The question begs, if we must have supplements as part of our diet, how do we choose the right ones? Is there some secret combination that is more effective then another? A miracle blend perhaps - which may explain why our primetime Vita Guy looks so ah...yummy?

If this is so, then why are all supplements not created equal. Why do manufacturers keep churning out different brands, dosages and compositions? And, if every brand is different, with different amounts of this and that (even our Vita Guy’s brand), how does one choose exactly what our body needs?

For aging women, health organizations recommend adding calcium to the diet. Indeed calcium has been presented as the cur all for skeletal destruction, and without a doubt, takes up a large corner of the mineral market, even finding it’s way into milk “fortified” products, bars and “other” foods.

Calcium is followed by anything anti-oxidant (from Vitamin C, berry this and that, to green tea). Other 21st century supplement stars include, Glucosamine and Chondroitin, garlic and red wine. Let's not forget dark chocolate, which for the most part could be ingested less painfully by consuming several candy bars! That was an attempt at humor. No, chocolate alone will not meet the FDA daily requirements for vitamin intake. Check the link below.

Still confused as to what to pick? Where to pick-it? Whom to believe? What dosage to take? Is all of this information too mesmerizing and complicated? Does conventional wisdom suggest that we simply march down to our nearest grocery store and purchase a one-a-day brand and have done with it?

One of the links provided in this article is from the Harvard School of Public Health, and offers some concise, easy to read information about supplements. If you can wade through those 18 pages and gain some clarity as to what vitamins and minerals do (FOR YOU), then you might become a little less confused.

Regardless, piles of research later, there is still no precise information about what vitamins Mr. Jones should take versus Mrs. Jones; apparently we are all too anatomically unique. Some doctors (a specialist in nutrition perhaps) might run a few blood tests and with time and age we would no doubt have to retake these tests and then adjust, adjust, adjust!

Based on the fact that we are all different in age and health requirements, a customized approach might be more beneficial then a random selection process. It might also be important to seek the advice of a physician, registered dietitian, pharmacist, or other qualified health professional regarding taking dietary supplements and their potential interactions with other medications.

Whatever decision we make, perhaps the only inescapable truth remains, we are all aging, all of us that is except our Mr. Vita Guy!

• Harvard School of Public Health
• National Institute of Health
• FDA - Reference Values for Nutrition Labeling
• Write Performance